A couple was charred to death after a fire broke out in their house in Jharkhand's Ranchi district, police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred on Wednesday night in Dibadih Goreyatand village under the Sonahatu Police Station limits, around 60 km from the state's capital Ranchi.

Sonahatu Police Station in-charge Chandan Kumar said a man, identified as Ranjit Sahu (46), died on the spot, while his wife Meena Devi (42) succumbed to her burn injuries on the way to a hospital.

"Prima facie it appears that the fire broke out due to a short-circuit in the house and spread quickly as diesel was kept inside their residence. An LPG cylinder was also allegedly blasted, which we are investigating. The exact cause of the fire could be ascertained only after an investigation gets completed," Kumar told PTI.

He said that bodies have been sent for postmortem.

In another incident, a labourer was killed after falling from an under-construction building under the Pundag Police Station limits in Ranchi.

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